Lifelines

Summer 2016

A Different Perspective

Thank you so much to each and every one of you who contributed to our “Change for Life” Baby Bottle Campaign this year! We are so grateful for your support.  We surpassed our goal of $35,000 and reached $39,000!

Because of your compassion and generosity, we are able to help couples like Matt and Kari*. They felt very nervous about being teenage parents when they first came to the centre. Kari had considered abortion, but because she had her boyfriend Matt’s support, she decided to keep the baby.  

They are still in school, which makes finding time to schedule appointments difficult for them. They want to learn how to be good parents though, so they are making it work.  

One day Kari and Matt brought a little boy with them to their counselling session.  At first we thought he was their son, but then realized that couldn’t be right – this was Kari’s first pregnancy.  It turned out that Matt was babysitting his little brother Zack* who didn’t have anywhere else to go during their appointment that day.  

Even though Zack was quite young, he was not disruptive during the session.  He was very attentive to the fatherhood video and laughed at times when he saw various dads playing with their kids.  After the video, the support worker commended Matt for his commitment to Kari and to the program, reiterating the importance of the father’s role in a child’s life. Zack spoke up, “We didn’t have a good dad.”  The room went silent for a moment, and then Matt nodded slowly.  He cleared his throat and looked up at the support worker. “That’s true,” he said. “But I want to be the best dad I can be.” We are grateful and privileged to be able to support young dads like Matt, who want to learn how to be a good father in spite of past experiences. 

The Pregnancy Centre continues to offer a fatherhood class on Thursday nights in conjunction with Young Parents Connection, and the new season just started a couple of weeks ago and runs through next April.   So far eleven young men have participated in our fatherhood program in 2016, and we continue to pray about how we can expand our services to meet the needs of fathers, in addition to mothers and children, in our community.

Thank you for filling baby bottles with donations, for filling young parents with hope, and filling all of us with thankfulness!
 

If you have driven past the Pregnancy Centre lately, you may have noticed that our front porch is no longer there!  You may also be wondering where the new porch is…  Well, we were hoping we might have “after” pictures to show you in this newsletter, but you will have to be content with an “in process” picture for now. 

We ran into an issue and the work is currently on hold while we apply for a variance, which is common for buildings in the downtown core. So even though there is a delay, we expect the porch project to be finished before the end of the year.    

Although it still looks like a construction zone, we are grateful to use our front door again and we hope clients will continue to feel welcome during this renovation season.

Stay tuned for pictures of the final result! 

“Wait patiently for the Lord.” 
– Psalm 27:14
 

Sunday, January 22th, 2017
from 6-9pm at The Summit
Downtown Campus
(302 Queen Street East)

Come enjoy a wonderful evening of fellowship, talented local musicians and –
of course — coffee!

$10 at the door.